Tony Khan Reveals Influential Market Claim Made During Warner Negotiations

Published: Feb 13, 2023 by Dave Adamson | Last Updated: Feb 13, 2023 by Dave Adamson

Dave has been a website writer for WrestleTalk since October 2022, having previously written for Den of Geek, among a number of wrestling, movie and television-related sites. Dave has been around the independent wrestling scene for more than a decade, including behind-the-scenes.

Tony Khan Reveals Influential Market Claim Made During Warner Negotiations

Tony Khan has revealed details of the pitch that he made to Warner Bros that would eventually secure a relationship with the company.

With plenty of big names moving around the wrestling scene, Tony Khan was able to focus on that as a point for his negotiations with Warner Bros.

In an interview with Uproxx, Khan revealed:

“There are always going to be free agents and big names that become available over time in pro wrestling, and I think that’s one of the reasons that the launch of AEW was so exciting.”

The AEW CEO would also reveal how he leveraged this information in his discussions, saying:

“That was actually part of my presentation to Warner executives five years ago, was that we would be creating the first truly competitive free agent market in pro wrestling in two decades

“I felt like there was a disparity, the choices available to a wrestler, as far as which promotions they’d want to work with.”

Khan has now been able to see how his belief has impacted the televised wrestling business, adding:

“And I think now, with the rise of AEW, it’s provided better choices and an alternative for the wrestling fans, but also for the pro wrestlers.

“And historically, particularly in the cable TV era, that free agent market and the excitement around it can generate a lot of buzz for a wrestling company, and sometimes for multiple wrestling companies as wrestlers go back and forth.”

Recently, Tony Khan has expressed his belief that there is a ‘real war’ going on between WWE and AEW and also claimed that ‘a lot’ of AEW stars have been allegedly contacted by WWE.

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